Chatbots are not popular because they are new. The increasing demand for these technological solutions is not a result of blind consumerism, nor is it a case of mindless obsession with AI. The reasons, for once, are way stronger – chatbots really do improve businesses in a variety of ways.

Why Chatbots Are the Future

“There is going to be an exponential growth in the role of chatbots over the next decade”, explains Avi Ben Ezra, the Chief Technology Officer of SnatchBot.

As a leading user-friendly platform for building bots, the company showcases that “it’s possible to build chatbots that respond to emotional content (whether the person sounds cheerful or happy, agreeable or discontented) and tailor the chatbot response accordingly”. Both of these terms – emotional and content – are crucial for success.

In the digital world and the age of limitless connectivity, aspiring businesses are right to assume that a modern consumer expect nothing but the fastest, easiest, and most convenient solutions. Chatbots are certainly solutions of such a sort, and are already opening new strategic doors to all who employ them. From exceptional customer service to fast-growing ROI, the list of their benefits only keeps going on and on.

As reports of new and impressive applications continue to pile up, we cannot but wonder – what is the best way to build a new, more impressive, and better chatbot?

The following 8 examples are not the only ones.

1. Sales Bots for Products and Services

Thus far, we have seen chatbots answering customer service queries, simple and complex alike, and virtual assistants providing a much-needed guidance to online shoppers. But, what about chatbots actually moving beyond to selling the goods instead of only marketing them?

Experts believe that very soon, your business could benefit from bots performing actual conversions in place of salespeople. It can be said that Uber and Lyft are the pioneers of this model, though Amazon Echo and Alexa already allow orders through conversational interfaces. SnatchBot’s chatbot directory, shows that dozens of developers on that platform have built bots that sell goods via PayPal.

2. Sales Bots for Virtual Goods

The same applies to chatbots selling photos, music, powerups, chips, and other virtual goods. Just as with products and services, sales bots here ensure a smooth and very short customer journey from front to end.

3. Chatbots as Product Extensions

If you are a provider of paid-for products and services, why not build your bot as an extension of your offer? The extension would have an effect similar to that of mobile apps, but would be way more engaging, intuitive, and helpful. The bot would then help you cover yet another channel of communication, thus building yet another touchpoint between consumers and your brand.

4. Brand Representative Bots

Truth be told, all effective chatbots should contribute to brand promotion – if performance metrics show that yours doesn’t, then there’s probably something wrong with the way it was built.

There’s plenty you can do to enhance this effect, starting with custom-tailored approach that makes the bot converse in your target audience’s language, and to provide the experience that’s highly personalized and delightfully fulfilling.

Your chatbot can not only have the company branding in the way it looks, but, as Conor Kostick put it, you can build it to reflect your business ethos: “If you are a bank, your chatbot will be sombre, accurate, polite. If you are a health care organisation, your bot will be sympathetic. If you are an entertainment organisation, your bot will be lively, funny, cheeky even.

5. The Middlemen

Available on Telegram, Kik, Messenger, and Slack, the Kip bot sets a great example of the so-called “referral” model. These bots are not built with intention to market or sell, but to simply offer a range of choices for the same product or service, thus helping the user decide on the best pick. Such a chatbot acts as a middleman between the buyer and the merchant, and for that collects a nice referral fee.

6. Data Collectors

To chatbot users, the thought of their customer data being collected for further analysis is neither fun nor easy to swallow. But, approach them with a game-like scenario with plenty of delicious product photos to choose from, and they’ll happily give away everything about them that you need to know.

Regardless of their end-purpose, all successfully built and implemented bots should gather actionable data about customer needs, preferences, and pain point. The data collector bot, however, is developed for this sole purpose. The data empowers research, and research is key to good decisions.

7. Chatbots That Advertise

When they are not busy collecting audience preferences, chatbots can do just as amazing job with pushing targeted ads. Many businesses already use them for this, and frankly speaking, all businesses should. Building an ad-serving bot is pretty easy, but note that this functionality isn’t allowed on all platforms.

8. Subscription-Based Bots

The new, more innovative, and better business bot would be the one that, in addition to prospects and data, collects money. Subscription-based bots are a perfect example of this – similarly to many other online providers, they offer an ongoing service that a user has to subscribe and pay for.

This might be the bot of your dreams, but be careful about what parts of the service you charge for if you decide to build it. Paying for all features would be too much for users to get used to, and the best practice here is to give a part of your service for free, and put a price tag only to a premium package.

Whatever model you choose, or whatever new application you fashion, benefits of using chatbots are guaranteed. Thanks to platforms like Snatchbot.me, building virtual assistants has never been easier – you’ll need no effort or money, but you will require time and imagination. Get creative, and dive in.